Kristen Bell is “in awe of the sacrifices” made by frontline workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kristen Bell
The ‘Frozen II’ star has sent a heartfelt message to those working in essential services – including healthcare workers and shop assistants – during the ongoing global health crisis, as she said she’s determined to make sure frontline staff get “tangible rewards for their acts of service”.
She said: "I'd like to say I'm so grateful you are finally getting the recognition you deserve. I am in awe of the sacrifices you have made.
“More than words of gratitude, I want to make sure they are seeing tangible rewards for their acts of service. That can take many shapes. It might mean donating money to help send their kid to college or dropping off a coffee. Their tireless work deserves it all."
Kristen’s own mother, Lorelei, previously worked as a nurse, and the 40-year-old actress admitted it was “empowering” to watch her put other people’s needs before her own.
She added: "I learned how empowering it is to care for someone else and the importance of recognizing when you have to put others before yourself.
"My mother would come home with stories and I was able to glean that helping a person affects so much more than that one person. It affects their families, their friends, their colleagues [and more]. If you help one person, you are actually helping 100 other people. We are like stones thrown in a pond - there is a massive ripple effect."
And the ‘Good Place’ star also has first-hand experience when it comes to the ways in which doctors and nurses help those dealing with loss, after her husband Dax Shepard – with whom she has daughters Lincoln, seven, and Delta, six – lost his dad to lung cancer in 2012 and his stepdad to prostate cancer in 2018.
Speaking to People magazine, she said: "I've learned there isn't a road map to caring for someone who is sick and there certainly isn't a road map to handling grief after their passing.
“Leaning on family members helped us and sharing the caregiving duties so that the weight didn't fall on just one person. Everyone needs to be able to have a tap-out buddy if they want to go on a walk, check something off their own to-do list or simply have a good cry."
Tagged in Dax Shepard Kristen Bell